Member Avatar for nivram

greetings everybody
here i am a newbie, and a silversurfer at that, now the problem is that i have a toshiba 320gig ext hdd but it only shows 2.71gigs,i have tried to format it but its just the same, and the smallest of files or photos nearly fills it up.any ideas? i run win xp pro 1gig of ram, im totaly lost.
over to you.
cheers
nivram:sad:

  • 2 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 105 Views
  • 1 Week Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by nivram

Dani AI

Generated

Nice result — recovered the full capacity. This kind of symptom usually comes down to how the disk was partitioned or presented to Windows rather than a literal loss of platters. Common follow-ups for similar cases: check the partition table with a partitioning tool (GParted, TestDisk) if anything looks odd; try the drive in a different USB enclosure or connect it directly to a SATA port to rule out a faulty USB-SATA bridge; and run the drive vendor’s diagnostic/S.M.A.R.T. tool to confirm the physical health.

File-system and compatibility notes for future use: for Windows-only use choose NTFS (stable for large volumes). For cross-platform transfers consider exFAT (needs the XP exFAT update) or FAT32 for very old devices, keeping in mind Windows’ built-in formatter won’t create FAT32 volumes larger than 32GB. Always back up important files before repartitioning or reformatting — formatting removes file-system metadata and makes recovery harder.

If data was lost before the reformat: stop writing to the disk immediately. Try partition recovery with TestDisk (can often restore lost partition tables) or file-recovery tools such as PhotoRec/Recuva for file carving. For critical data, consider a professional recovery service rather than repeated DIY attempts.

Final practical tips: after you’ve rebuilt the volume, run CHKDSK and a surface scan, label the drive, and keep a small backup routine so a single formatting mistake doesn’t become a major data loss. Credit to for the spot-on diagnosis and to for confirming the successful fix.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for fry

hmm, go to right click on my computer, manage, disk management. There you will be able to see your ext drive. it seems to me that you have one partition created and plenty of unused(not formated) space. post back the results

Member Avatar for nivram

hi fry
spot on with that dianosis i have formatted the whole lot and recovered all the storage.
top man
all th best
nivram

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.